A History of Rome
by OtakuBookworm
Summary: He was called by some the greatest empire in the world, but that was not always the case.
1. The Child on the Palatine

_I do not own or claim Hetalia- Axis Powers as my work._

A man was working on the Palatine Hill, fixing the walls of his new city. He was laboring tirelessly until he noticed something strange. The man stopped his work. He saw a child standing on the other side of the Palatine's crest. Slowly he walked over to the child.

"Child!" the young man yelled. "What are you doing up here? Your parents-"

"I don't have any parents," the child interrupted. "I was born yesterday, but I don't know where I came from."

The man looked confused. "Yesterday?" The child looked young, but not that young. He and his men had finished building the city yesterday as well. "What do you remember from yesterday, child?"

"The first thing I remember seeing was that wall over there. Since then I've just kept my distance." The child's words were shaky. He was obviously afraid. The man gently placed his hand on the child's shoulder.

"You don't have to stay away. My men and I won't harm you." He offered his hand to the child, realizing who he was.

He had heard that the great cities of Greece like Thebes, Athens and Sparta had children like this- often said to have been born the day of the city's establishment. They did not grow the way other people did. They grew as the people of their city grew more powerful or influential. Some of the people lived hundreds of years, and only died if the city fell as well. He knew the child _was_ his city.

"What's your name?" the child asked as the two walked back to the city.

"I am called Romulus," the man replied. "Do you have a name as well?"

"I don't know… but your name sounds familiar. I feel like it's my name too."

"It might be," Romulus answered. "My city also bears my name. I call it Rome."

"Am… am I this city?" the child pondered.

Romulus nodded. "Yes. There are many cities around the world that have someone like you. But you're special." The pair arrived at the city gates. "You, Little Romulus, will be the greatest city in the world. I will make sure of that."

The little one stared at the man in wonder. "Thank you! I will work hard!" Then he realized something. "We can't have the same name… people might get confused." The child was saddened.

"Is that so…?" Romulus mumbled. "That's all right. For now, I will call you something else. But after I leave this world, take my name with pride. You shall be Romulus thenceforth. But for now…" Romulus studied the child, trying to find a suitable name. "For now, I will call you Paulus." 1

"I like that name," the newly-named city said. "Romulus?"

"Yes, Paulus?"

"Even when you do leave… I won't be alone, will I?"

Romulus knelt down and looked at his new companion. "No, you won't be alone. As you become stronger, you will make many friends and even more enemies. Others will try to bring you down, but they cannot if you fight back. Paulus, you will become great, but only if you work together with your people." He took the boy and placed him on his shoulders. "Come on, let's go home."

--

A/N Paulus is Latin for "small." I know it seems like a bad name for Rome, but here I'm only using it to differentiate him from the founder of Rome (in this case, he's "Little Romulus/Romulus Paulus"). Only people close to him call him "Paulus" after Romulus's death (i.e. kings, emperors).


	2. Rebirth of the Kingdom

_I do not own or claim Hetalia- Axis Powers as my work._

The night was dark, but the stars provided enough light for the king to see his kingdom. He had asked of the king to meet at the entrance of the palace. The messenger sounded urgent when the invitation was delivered, but the king paid him no mind. The two greeted each other.

"My Lord, how are you faring these days?" the brunet youth asked. "Sextus's… actions have upset people. I fear that they blame you for not having him watched. Your livelihood may be in jeopardy." He picked out his words carefully.

"Romulus, please don't sugarcoat your words," the elder man kindly replied. "I could hear the uproars from my bedchamber. Whether or not I live is unimportant. What is important is that you stay alive. Those rebels can do whatever they like to me."

"How brave of you to be so willing to be punished, Uncle," came another voice. "Or is it really foolishness?"

"Brutus…" the king murmured. He saw that his nephew was not alone- a group of about a dozen men was behind him. "I suppose you are all here to kill me?"

"If anyone should be killed, it's that accursed son of yours!" exclaimed one of the men with Brutus. "What he did to Lucretia is unforgivable!"

"Calm down, Collatinus. We will take care of that later." Brutus held a sword near the king's face. "Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, I hereby exile you and your entire family from Rome. Any resistance will be met by this sword." Brutus glared at his uncle. "We've already captured your family. Shall you resist and die now, or will you come along and then die like my sister?"

"If I shall die, it will be by my own hand," declared the king. "Take me to my family." Brutus then ordered a few of his men to tie the king's hands up and take him away. As the king left, Brutus approached the silently observing kingdom.

"I didn't want this to happen," he finally said, almost crying. "I knew that he wasn't a good king, but I was afraid and followed him because I thought he would make me stronger. But then the incident with Lucretia-"

"It's all right, Paulus. He's gone now, and so is the rest of his family. You have nothing to be afraid of any longer. You also don't need kings to be strong. From now on, you will be a republic."

"A republic?" Romulus Paulus had never heard of that word before.

"It's a land of the people, ruled by the people. There won't be any tyrants breathing down anyone's necks, and the people have a say in decisions." Brutus smiled proudly. "The senate will be in charge of the republic, with two men called consuls in charge of the senate. The men will change from time to time, though. If we didn't do that, we would have two kings at a time instead of one!" He laughed and looked at Romulus. "What do you think?"

"I like the idea," Romulus answered. "Why don't you and Collatinus be the first consuls?"

"He and I?" Brutus thought for a moment. "Are you sure?"

Romulus nodded. "Absolutely. You had the courage to overthrow the king- that has to be a sign that you'll be a great leader."

Brutus laughed again. "Thank you for your confidence, old friend, but the decision will be left to the senate and the citizens."

"And I'm sure they will agree with me."

"… I suppose so. After all, you have always known them."

"Then, Lucius Junius Brutus, are you ready and willing to accept your role as consul to the senate and the people of Rome?"

"I am."

---

**A/N**: This chapter takes place in the year 509 BCE (or 244 AUC, I think). The event here is the overthrow of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome. The rebellion was lead by Lucius Junius Brutus, the son of Superbus's sister. The main cause of the rebellion was the rape of Lucretia, Brutus's sister and the wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, by Sextus Tarquinius, her cousin. Long story short, Superbus's whole family got sent back to their ancestral home of Etruria and Brutus and Collatinus got elected consuls. Because there were more than one Lucius, I used their cognomina (nicknames) when referring to them. The king refers to Rome as Romulus because they aren't friends. Brutus and he are, however. And sorry for my long explanation. My inner Latin scholar demands exactness.


	3. End of Carthage

_I do not own or claim Hetalia- Axis Powers as my work._

Carthage was in ruins now. No buildings left standing, all its people driven out, enslaved or killed. Romulus thought, "_Oh, it can't be helped. They attacked our allies and totally ignored our demands during the last wars. This was going to happen eventually." _But he knew deep inside that the fire and massacre was unnecessary. He had seen Carthage, his peer- he was on the verge of death. Romulus offered his help, but the proud nation thought it appropriate that he die at the hands of such a powerful foe.

He couldn't take it. Romulus had to again and again talk himself out of it. "You aren't dead, Akbar. I didn't kill you. Some of your people are still alive. You don't have to go." He had never seen one of his own die, and feared for his own life. It took much convincing from Greece to calm him down.

"Paulus, dear, it's all right. This happens. Nations don't last forever." She was holding him close to herself, trying to console him.

"But, Kallisto… He just died so quickly. That could happen to anyone. Even me."

"He originally was a colony of an old empire. He was around longer than you."

"So have you! Age doesn't matter! One moment you could be standing on top of the world, and the next you could be dead and buried."

"Paulus, believe me when I say this: You won't be gone any time soon."

Romulus had a hard time never believing her. Kallisto was a great friend and helped him for the longest time. Now would be an inopportune time to deny her words. There was no longer a need for solace. Romulus got up, smiled at his friend and before exiting her room, attempted to kiss Kallisto on the cheek. Before he could, she quipped sweetly, "In this case, Paulus, age does matter. Maybe some other time? That attitude doesn't fit an innocent child such as you."

"Perhaps. Maybe by that time, you'll realize that I'm not a child, but that you're just starting to be a bit aged." They both laughed, and Romulus went home.

A/N: This chapter was supposed to be about the end of the Punic Wars, but I can't really write out battles. So this is a fluff chapter with some Rome/MamaGreece for you until I get to a chapter I actually can write substantially about. FYI, Kallisto= Mama Greece and Akbar= Carthage, if you couldn't tell. Also, I write Rome to be very emotional. Why is that?


	4. Republic's Fall

_I do not own or claim Hetalia- Axis Powers as my work._

"…Are you sure about this, Marius?" the republic asked. He had grown quite a bit taller since his ordeal with Carthage; if only he could see him now. He looked older too, having started to grow a beard. After hundreds of years, he took up a _toga virilis._ The question was directed at a friend of his, a consul that had been elected quite a few times in the past few years.

"Absolutely, Paulus," the consul replied. "It'll make your army stronger; I promise." He was talking about his recent military reforms.

"But to make the troops more loyal to their general than to the senate and people of Rome? …Than to me?" This hurt him deeply.

Marius reassured him. "I don't mean that to happen, my friend. However, I do have to warn you; there will be a time when this senate will not seeing your welfare first. That's when you will need to look to a general loyal to you yourself. That way, his troops support you as well. The military is what will help you grow."

"Do you really think so?" Paulus asked again, doubtful. He was asking lots of questions recently. Romulus, his first friend and his city's founder, had told him he would be a powerful nation one day, and due to recent events, he doubted this.

* * *

Marius was gone. Sulla took his place as one of the most, if not the _one_, powerful man in Rome. He was dictator, and was nearly omnipotent. He ordered a proscription list be made, and hundreds of mostly wealthy people died at the hands of anyone who read the list. Paulus watched all of this in horror, being unable to convince the dictator to stop his rampage. He had ruled for more than the six months allowed a dictator. But soon enough, Sulla retired, and then died a year afterwards. However, the tension that cut through the city didn't end. There were still _those two_.

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus. The first was a great general, and the second a rather wealthy man. Their animosity was not a secret. Although their unintentional joint effort in the quelling of the slave revolt led by Spartacus was a success, tensions were high. They were even higher when both were declared co-consuls. Thankfully, there was a relative of Marius's that could bring some semblance of peace, which gave the worrying republic hope. His name was Gaius Julius Caesar, a nephew of Marius's wife.

Julius was not from the richest immediate family, but was close to the people. He grew up with the common people, and knew what they wanted. The least he could give them now was peace, and to do that, he made a three-way _factio, _or partnership with Crassus and Pompeius. All of them being somewhat influential in their own rights, they each took provinces to "supervise." Crassus took Syria, Pompeius Hispania, and Julius Gallia and Illyricum. Julius tried to cement their relationships further by giving his daughter to Pompeius in marriage. Things stayed quiet for a while. And then Pompeius's wife died. Then Crassus died. The _factio_ was gone, and now Julius and Pompeius were the fighting ones. Julius had gotten very powerful in Gallia. Paulus decided to go to Julius there, and he was introduced to Vlatucia, who for the Gallians was what Paulus was to Romans. She was a headstrong woman, with golden hair and lots of embellished clothing and jewelry. Paulus didn't feel the way he did about her since he met Kallisto.

"Are you coming back home soon, Julius?" Paulus asked Julius one day.

"Of course I will," he replied. "With all of my troops. And there's nothing that Pompeius can do about it."

"Don't be insane!" the republic exclaimed. It was treason to go into Roman Italy with all one's troops. Paulus himself didn't mind; he really feared what Pompeius was going to do. But he remembered what Marius had told him so many years ago. He had to trust that Julius would make things better with his troops. In the next week, Julius did what he said he would, and not too long after defeated Pompeius's troops at Pharsalus. The once-great general ran, tail between his legs, to Egypt, but he did not have friends there. Julius had influence there too. There was nowhere left for him to run. That was the end of Pompeius's life.

Gaius Julius Caesar was welcomed back to the city with open arms after years of being gone. The people loved him, Paulus adored him, but the senate thought otherwise. Julius had been appointed dictator for life, and everyone started calling him _imperator_. The senators thought of this as a threat to the Republic. They planned to kill him. Of course Paulus had heard the rumors, but he didn't want to believe them. But then came the Ides of March, seven hundred and nine years since Paulus's birth.

* * *

Julius was in the senate house for something. Announcing another reform, maybe. Paulus couldn't remember anything before the daggers. Fifty- no, sixty, - charged at Julius. One of them was Marcus Junius Brutus, a descendant of the very same Brutus that helped Paulus become a republic so long ago. This Brutus was also a friend of Julius's- then why? For the Republic? _If the price is his life, to hell with the Republic!_ Paulus thought. He could do nothing but watch his people's darling get murdered. He watched with a sorrowful rage, trying to fight his way through the bastard senators that were killing his key to peace. At the same time, he was trying to fight back harsh, burning tears. No, but he didn't. He let the tears fall onto the floor. After five minutes of the rampage, all the killers ran out of the senate house, screaming, "Long live the Republic!" Brutus tried to get out as well, but not before Paulus grabbed the train of his toga.

"Are you happy, Brutus?" he asked, rage seething through his voice. "Are you happy that you've committed patricide? The man was practically your father!"

"Romulus Paulus, you of all people should understand!" Brutus preached to the republic. "I'm just doing what my ancestors would have done to protect you!"

"This isn't protection!" Paulus screamed. "This is murder! Gaius Julius Caesar was the last good thing that happened to this city!" The mourning man almost punched the other, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He let Brutus go. Slowly, he made his way to the corpse of his old friend. The tears started flowing again, and carefully picked him up and embraced him.

"Thank you."

Notes:

If the names don't look familiar, Google is your friend. Here are some more clarifications:

-Vlacutia is the name I gave to Gallia. Yes, my Gallia is female. Kallisto is Mama Greece.

-Basic timeline: Marius and his military reforms, the first triumvirate, and Caesar being Caesar.


End file.
